PPL to begin $19 million Carlisle project in May

PPL Electric Utilities will begin a $19 million underground transmission line project in Carlisle this May.

PPL will run a 69 kilovolt underground transmission line, connecting its West Carlisle substation on Newville Road to their Carlisle substation on North Spring Road.

“This will really give us tremendous reliability capabilities and the duration of outages will be shorter, because it will allow us to do some switching, where we can take loads off one transmission line and put it on another,” said Jim Nulton, PPL spokesman.

The 2.2 mile transmission line will run from Newville Road, north on Orange Street, then turn onto North Street, and then North Spring Road.

Crews will run the line underneath the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and Letort Spring Run.

“This is a project that will require trenching very much like you would see associated with installing a gas main or a water main. We will be trenching in the public right of way,” Nulton said.

PPL says going underground will cost them more money but it will allow them to avoid building an overhead line through historic downtown Carlisle.

Residents should be prepared for parking and lane restrictions as crews run the line through the borough.

“We are looking to be a good neighbor and minimize disruptions. We will notify residents what is going on and be knocking on their doors. The borough has even allowed us to put real time updates on the borough website,” said Nulton.

Nulton says one of their biggest concerns is traffic at the intersection of North and Orange Streets.

“During the arrival and dismissal of school that can get very busy and we are working with the Borough and the school district on the best schedule.” said Nulton. “We want to be as least disruptive as possible.”

Work is set to begin May 1 and officials say it will take about one year to finish.